  Drama
This week: Edited by: StephBee  
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In this installment of how to put a play together, we'll look at some of the more technical aspects of the play/script form as our play comes together. |
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It's time to put pen to paper, but before we get to dialogue, we've got to set up the format.
 Remember to number the pages on the upper right hand corner. (when the manuscript is published on WDC as a static item, this won't apply, but when printing a hard copy, make sure it is numbered.)
 Center the title of the play.
 At the beginning write "Characters" and center it. List the characters and bold the characters names. Then list a brief description of them.
 After your characters, list the setting.
Optional: You might want to draft a scene breakdown to keep you on track. Remember, we're composing a one act play which is roughly equal to a short story. Here's an example of our working play:
WAR AND WINE
a play in one act
by: StephB
CHARACTERS
Edmund Huet: main character, 18, Edmund is struggling to keep his family's vineyard viable. His father died of a heart attack a couple of months ago.
Claire Huet: 50, Edmund's mother. She's struggling to come to grips with her country's occupation by the Nazis.
Isabelle Huet: 12, Edmund's sister.
Armand DeBeaux: 40, runs a cafe in Beaune. A friend of Edmund's late father.
Remi
Giles
Armand's customers and members of the French resistance.
Volker Schleich: late 30's. He's the German "winefurher" who bullies Edmund.
Setting: The Huets live just outside of the French town of "Beaune," near Dijon in the Burgundy region of France. This region is known for making chardonnay and pinot noir. It is 1943.
Scene Breakdown
SCENE 1 - Huet's living room
Edmund is dirty having come in from the vineyard. Clair is upset. Volker is there and tells Edmund he needs several cases of wine for Berlin immediately. Edmund wants to do the right thing, but is torn about giving the Nazis any more wine. Claire tells Edmund to find Remi and Giles at Armand's.
SCENE 2 - Armand's cafe
Edmund finds Armand. Remi and Giles talk Edmund into selling them the wine instead of giving it to the winefurher. Edmund decides this is the right thing to do.
SCENE 3 - Wine cellar
Edmund is stacking cases onto a pallet. Volker comes by and inspects them. Pleased, he leaves. Remi and Giles comes in to inspect and they switch the shipment, taking Edmund's wine and shipping grape juice to Berlin.
SCENE 4 - Armand's cafe
Volker reports the train with the wine arrived in Frankfurt "light," and he needs another shipment of wine for Berlin. He tells Edmund not to cheat him again.
SCENE 5 - Huet's living room.
Edmund worries about cheating Schleich. Claire comes in and tell him he's doing the right thing allowing the French resistance to take the wine. It will help buy war supplies.
SCENE 6 - Wine cellar
Remi and Giles leave Edmund after another switch. Volker enters announces he seen the switch and and demands the Huet's pre-war wine they have saved. A shot rings out. Claire has shot the winefurher. "Vive la France," she says. Edmund is left to wonder what the right thing to do is - report the murder or just bury the winefurher.
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It can also be found as a static item in my port: |  | War and Wine (13+)
Young Edmund Huet struggles to maintain his family's vineyard during World War II.
#1452559 by StephBee |
Now we're ready for dialogue. The next newsletter will address dialogue in play/script writing and we'll add a scene to our play.
CONGRATULATIONS to: Ina Deaver  who won the "Congratulations" merit badge. "Schleich" means "creep or sneak" in German. |
Here are some recent additions to the "Drama" category on Writing.Com:
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#1450293 by Not Available. |
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#1450724 by Not Available. |
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This item number is not valid.
#1450808 by Not Available. |
And some Drama activities on WDC:
|  | Drama Forum (13+)
For those of us drama queens and kings, a forum to swap writing ideas and post questions
#1394242 by Joy  |
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Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
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Maimai J Saves for Upgrade
I don't have a character name, but I'd like to say that I love your newsletter. I've been a fiction writer for quite some time, but I have ideas that will be fit, I think, for a play. Reading your newsletter has helped me conceptualize how my play would go. Thanks and more power!
I'm glad you enjoy the newsletter and I hope this in depth look at drafting plays/scripts helps.
al1801
A name for the wineuhrer?
Who says the Germans (well, at least the Nazis, don't have a sense of humor. Deidrich Weinbauer - a businessman, steeped the in the Nazi cause, is selected by Reichfuhrer Himmler to head the wine operation in Burgundy. Weinbauer, literally translated, means wine farmer or grower.
This was a great suggestion. It was a tough call to pick the winner, trust me.
Fallser
Thanks for another great newsletter. What I really appreciate is your working checklists and ideas. Having some pointers to cut and paste into a word document and start working on is really helpful!
Good selection of forums and contests too.
Thanks. I'm really enjoying this too. I'm learning alot about how to put a play/script together as well.
Ina Deaver
How about Volker Schleich? Volker (pronounced "folker") is a good, stalwart German name, but not the stuff of stereotype. "Schleich" (pronounced with a long "I" and, generally a soft "sh" at the beginning and end) means "creep" or "sneak."
Other good first names are "Kristoff," "Andreas," "Ulrich" and "Jorg" (It's said "Yeorg" - and has an umlaut on the "o")
Hey, you've got the winning name here as I really like what the name implies - "creep" or "sneak."
Thanks so much for the feedback on these series of newsletters. It's much appreciated.
StephBee is a 911 Dispatcher for LAPD. Her book, "The Wolf's Torment," was published by IUniverse in June 2007, and has received several good reviews from Reader Views and ForeWord Magazine.
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Drama: July 23, 2008 Issue [#2513]
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